BY OOI KIN FAI Follow on Twitter
If his last few performances are any indication, Sarawak fans will be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of Mark Hartmann continuing to feature prominently for the Crocs. Having scored a stunning free kick earlier in the season, Hartmann added another one to the growing list with another long-range effort in the 3-1 win over PKNS on Saturday.
"Good performance from the team. We would have liked to not conceded that last goal. It was a very open match but we did enough today to get the three points," said Hartmann after the match.
Deployed in a new position as coach David Usop tweaked the formation against PKNS, Hartmann was playing off Mateo Roskam and he was happy to have been able to contribute in any way and had a great influence on the match despite the unfamiliarity with the position.
"Today we changed to a 4-5-1 where I played a little bit deeper and that means I could get on the ball a bit more. Obviously attacking wise, Roskam was a bit alone so it was important for me and Lee [Jong Ho] to get a bit up. It worked obviously," explained a pleased Hartmann.
When asked if he will no be known for being a threat with his shooting from distance, Hartmann indicated that it is not something that he's used to in his career but happy that it's falling into place for him now, in that regards.
"I don't know, it's looking like it. That one in the first half didn't go in but we scored the rebound. As long as we keep winning and the team keeps scoring goals, I'll be happy," enthused Hartmann.
There was a bizarre moment after Hartmann cut in from the left hand side and unleashed a superb curling effort into the top corner for Sarawak's second goal. The stadium announcer credited the goal to Roskam and Hartmann appeared peeved by it, at least at that point in time anyway.
"Yeah, what was that all about? No, it's all good. It went down as my goal anyway," said Hartmann.
Only just joined Sarawak this season, Hartmann seemed to be settling in well in the new environment and the Philippines international is acutely aware of the strength of his new team, stressing that the fans can look forward to better days ahead.
"I feel it's good to be part of the team. It's a good team, everyone wants to win and everyone is happy to play with each other, so it's all good. We are better than the bottom two and hopefully we'll keep climbing up the ladder," added Hartmann.
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